Hassan Fathy (Alexandria 1900 – Cairo 1989) was Egypt's most important architect of the 20th century. He is hardly known outside of Egypt and was unpopular in his native country throughout his life. He received numerous awards including the 1970 French Literary Prize for 'Architecture for the Poor', which originally published in French. Hassan Fathy's great contribution to modern Egyptian architecture is the rediscovery of traditional methods of clay construction. Their principles had been forgotten; not until he was aided by Nubian master builders did he succeed in creating a renaissance in archway and cupola construction techniques, which he first tested in projects in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, India and Greece. 'Architecture for the Poor' describes Hassan Fathy's plan for building the village of New Gourna (near Luxor, Egypt) without the use of more modern and expensive materials such as steel and concrete. Using mud bricks, and such traditional Egyptian architectural designs as enclosed courtyards and vaulted roofing, Fathy worked with the villagers to tailor his designs to their needs. He taught them how to work with bricks, supervised the erection of the buildings, and encouraged the revival of ancient crafts, such as claustra, to adorn buildings.

Italian subtitles in CC.